


Hope and Fate

by Mnemo_ink



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, M/M, Magic, Sort Of, king Charles Xavier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 04:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17932811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mnemo_ink/pseuds/Mnemo_ink
Summary: Logan ends up in a dungeon, waiting for his fate to be decided, yet not caring much about it. He doesn't expect a king's visit.





	Hope and Fate

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Gerec](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerec/pseuds/Gerec) in the [xmenrarepairs19](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmenrarepairs19) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> Sword and Sorcery AU (think Conan the Barbarian) with Logan as the legendary fighter with the tragic past and Charles as the enigmatic and powerful ruler/sorcerer that hires Logan to perform an impossible task (i.e. kill a tyrant or monster?, rescue his sister Raven?)

It's not the first time Logan ends up in a dungeon. It's not the worst prison he ever knew either. Doesn't mean this can't be the end for him. He was in the right, and the rich bastard got it coming, but he had never been gifted at crafting great tirades in his defense. After all these years, he doesn't feel like wasting the energy for it either.

He's ready to be forgotten here for days -that's how it goes most of the time- but after only a few hours of solitude he gets a visitor.

A heavy cloak hides most the figure, but the gold circlet around his head gives the game away anyway. The young king himself, Charles III of the house Xavier. Look's like Logan is in deeper than he thought.

The man holds himself with poise. The flames from the torches make shadows dance upon the beautiful face, making it hard for Logan to decipher if the king is projecting strength or kindness, as if one second he looked made of hardened steel and the next he was all softness and compassion.

"You're putting me in a difficult situation, warrior."

Logan doesn't answer and keeps his eyes on the wall. It doesn't seem to faze the king.

"You acted with good reason, every witness agree on that, but the one you killed was the Regent's son. "

Ah. There it is.

The Regent had ruled Westchester for years. Still is the next in line as long as Charles doesn't produce an heir. After all, house Marko has the best claim for the throne. Or at least it had before Cain Marko died. Now with no heir himself, Kurt Marko will lose supporters.

So here's the whole deal as Logan sees it: Cain Marko won't be missed and his death is even an advantage to the king, except that politics means he can't act this way and must pretend the kingdom gives a fuck about the bastard's fate.

This is why the Wolverine tries to stay away from Royalty.

"So. I have a proposition for you. Accomplish the quest I'm about to give you, and you will be forgiven."

"How do you know I won't simply walk away?"

"You could. While I will accompany you, I couldn't stop you. But it would leave a dark mark on your honor. The guilt would be yours to bear."

It's true that for all his sins, Logan's never given his word on anything with the intention of not going through. He'd rather stay in jail than fake his way out. That's not the point that makes him react with incredulity :

"You'd come with me? Alone?"

"Yes."

"Not afraid I'll just ransom you or kill you?"

The fool just smiles at Logan.

"That's not a cause of concern, no."

"I'm not an honorable man."

"Oh, I think you are, Logan."

He knows his name. By the tone of his voice it seems he knows a lot more too. The king continues with something close to fervor in his voice.

"I've heard about you. You're the Wolverine. You're one of the best fighters out there. You survived missions that would have been fatal to most. And you have honor."

It never gets easier hearing people talking about him like that. He is not a hero, just someone good at killing and surviving. 

"You shouldn't listen to tales your majesty."

"I've been lucky to meet people who had a first hand account of your exploits. And I have ways to tell when something is true or not."

Somewhere in Logan's brain, a warning flickered alive. The sensation that there was a lot untold in this simple sentence. If anything, he trusted his guts. It kept him alive all this time.

He is ready to refuse the deal when the king's expression changed, like a crack opening briefly in the armor, a deeper truth coming to the front : 

"In any case, I'm afraid I have only one thing left to rely on : hope."

Something in the king's voice touches Logan more than he expected or wanted. A small crack, the tiredness of someone who has been fighting for a long time and who doesn't see how he can end the war. The despair threatening the light. And yet the light burning on. It's for this enduring light he finds himself asking:

"What's the quest? Got some dragon to slay? Or a princess to save?"

He hears the smile more than he sees it. These knightly things do get old.

"No such thing I'm afraid." The king says wih humor before getting serious. "There is a temple near our northern frontier, abandoned yet protected by powerful magic. Inside there is a crystal, as big as your cell, called the M'Kraan Crystal. It possesses a whole world inside of it, a world free from the rules of our own, filled with the deepest roots of magic imaginable. You need to get inside this crystal."

"Thanks for the story, but you didn't tell me the most important part. What the hell am I suppose to do in that thing?"

The king looks in his eyes, a final judging before he reveals everything. He raises his hand toward Logan; It goes through the bar of the cell, losing its color like some kind of ghost.

"You need to get _me_ out."


End file.
